"Where does it say that you have a contract with G-d to have an easy life?"

the Lubavitcher Rebbe

"Failure is not the enemy of success; it is its prerequisite."

Rabbi Nosson Scherman

13 Jan 2013

Bullying

Below is an excerpt from a statement that Aaron Swartz's family posted.

Aaron’s insatiable curiosity, creativity, and brilliance; his reflexive empathy and capacity for selfless, boundless love; his refusal to accept injustice as inevitable—these gifts made the world, and our lives, far brighter. We’re grateful for our time with him, to those who loved him and stood with him, and to all of those who continue his work for a better world.... Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney’s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims.
Read full statement: http://rememberaaronsw.tumblr.com/post/40372208044/official-statement-from-the-family-and-partner-of-aaron

Kikar Hashabat reports on Palestinian youth who threw stones at people who came to pray at Kever Rachel for a refuah sheleimah for Rav Ovadia Yosef. One policeman was injured and taken to hospital.

INN reports, "Police are investigating the spray-painting of swastikas, Sunday evening, on a Jerusalem house."

For the second time in a week, Jews in Colorado were confronted with the ugly and frightening sight of swastikas drawn on a building in the state. Defaced this time was the synagogue in the town of Morrison, southwest of Denver. It was the latest in a spate of swastika defacements and threatening graffiti around the state.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164140